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the diamond heist of the 18th century--looking for beta for historical work

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angeliz2k

angeliz2k

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Hi everyone!

I'm hoping to get someone on board to work with me on Soleil (working title), a historical novel set in pre-Revolutionary France. I've now spent years on this project, going to and fro, but I finally workd it out. Don't worry, it's in good condition; it's been gone over many tiems and should be low on typos and the like. It's 90k.

I particularly need someone to read through it for sense. I know the story inside and out, so I could have easily left out important bits of information here and there. The story is lifted from history.

So, here's the basic situation:

Nicole d'Oliva is a courtesan making her living in 1785 in Paris when she is approached by Nicolas de La Motte. He has a very strange request of her. His wife is a friend Marie-Antoinette's and the Queen wants Nicole to do a favor for her. The payment is a huge sum, fifteen thousand francs.

Nicole is whisked away to Versailles without actually knowing what she's going to do. The La Mottes tell her all she must do is dress up in white, walk out into the midnight gardens of Versailles, hand a rose to an unknown nobleman, and say, "You know what this means."

She goes along with this. It isn't until later that she begins to realize what has happened. She has become part of a plot to swinle a Cardinal. The man in the gardens of Versailles was one of the most poweful men in France, and he had believed Nicole was Queen Marie-Antoinette. He had trusted the La Mottes to help him return to the Queen's good graces. He chose the wrong people to trust.

Worse is to come. Nicole finds out that the La Mottes are planning to steal a diamond necklace of 2800 carats, a necklace that was meant to be the Queen's. Now the Cardinal is going to be duped into handing it over to the La Mottes . . .
Click to expand...

And yes, all of this (and more) really did happen in the 1780's. Great stuff!
 
DeleyanLee

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Sounds interesting.

What kind of deadline are you looking at getting comments by?
 
angeliz2k

angeliz2k

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DeleyanLee said:
Sounds interesting.

What kind of deadline are you looking at getting comments by?
Click to expand...

I have no hard deadline. Obviously, sooner is better. I would be pleased if it could be gotten through in a month or two, but I know the people here probably have lives to tend to first.
 
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